sad day :(....

we just got home from our last dinner with everyone...we had a great going away party...just two more days...but we hope to be back by the end of the summer:)
here are some pics...
teek gets a new hat
boo young...i am crying already!
jess...have fun in china!
kan-dance!! can't wait til SA!
security!!
oh paul...what can i say? ...miss you!
you girls are amazing!!

kailua-kona

here is a photo of kailua-kona bay...right down the street from where we live...so sad we are leaving next week...i think i'm going to cry...

heather don't you miss it? can you see the corner of the scandinavian ice...yummmm...come back with us...k...

day trip...

so today we went to kanalui...on a road that i am not sure was meant for a moped...actually i know it wasn't becuase most cars and semi's go faster than say 35 mph:) ...i was screaming most of the way but it was fun:) and we got to check out tons of cool antique shops and art galleries so it was worth every prayer that we were not going to get smashed by a car while driving in the bike lane...anyways here are some pics of one of my favorite shops...

♣ happy saint patty's day!!

happy saint patrick's day to everyone....i just love this day:)


...and happy birthday to my sweet mother-in-law, jackie!

starting to pack up...

not much going on....just got done with a wonderful week of lecture...we're all stirred up and ready to go:)
we have started to pack up...and i can't believe how much stuff we have accumulated...it's crazy and we can't take much with us.
i am sad to go but excited at the journey ahead...
we're off to london at the end of the week and then on to south africa for the next couple months. we will be working in a high school in cape town teaching art, IT, pe (they have expressed the desire to learn american basketball-so cort will be perfect) and AIDS awareness...1 out of every 3 people in south africa have HIV and it's growing sadly but steadily. i am trying to prepare my heart for what we will encounter...we are visiting several orphanages and hospitals as well as townships (ghettos)...but from what i hear they far surpass our worst.
i don’t know what it is but every time i visit an orphanage something comes over and it’s always life changing...i want so much to change their circumstances but we are never there long enough...who knows maybe someday we will be!

and just a few pics from our cruise today...we are trying to soak in every last minute....i am going to miss all of these cool little churches...






by the way....is anybody bored and feel like taking a trip to hong kong this summer?....we are going and we need others! the chinese government has has decided they want their top university students to learn about democracy not only from americans....but from a christian (biblical) point of view....this is huge! so cort and i are going over to teach this summer but there is room for many more teachers....and don’t worry we get training and you don’t have to be a teacher....let us know:)

and we’ll have a little fun too...hong kong is one of my favorite cities....great food & great shopping!

❤ white day ❤

white day is the korean valentines day which is celebrated today, the 14th of march...
cort was sneaking around all day and i couldn't figure it out...he was doing really weird things because he was trying to sneak everything out of the room that he needed to get ready for a fancy-smancy dinner...when I would question him, he would just say oh so and so wants to borrow this....bla bla bla and i would say you are sooo weird!!
anyways i knew we were getting together for class again after dinner but i wasn't sure what time and i had just got done running and about to hop in the shower when he knocks and says everyone is meeting now....so i run down there and to my surprise every guy in the class has a flower in hand ready to give it to their girl....so sweet:)
all of the guys were dressed up and all of the girls were not...ha ha it was totally unexpected!! and they did such a great job....everyone pitched in and picked a girl even the single guys....everyone got up and sang, played guitar or read a poem....and cort rapped for me...he is so funny! i am so blessed to have such an incredible guy with such a hilarious personality....he had everyone rolling...i loved it!!
such a nice surprise....i didn't even know such a thing existed....love them koreans!!

this week...

we are having such an amazing week...we have the greatest speaker, heather you would love him! everyday he leaves me feeling like i want to give up everything and go full-time into missions forever....he has such an exciting life and he says he is on a mission to stamp out “boring” christians...ha ha...he has such a great personality and a great sense of humor....i think that’s why i like him so much☺
this guy has been everywhere and seen everything....he life is a living testimony of god’s word when he says he will do great miracles during our time but we won’t believe even when we are told....and his stories are quite extraordinary!! three days after getting radically saved in the 70’s he went to smuggle bibles into communist east berlin, where people were being shot at the border on a daily basis and ever since he has lived his life in that respect....constantly submitted to god’s will and being led all over the world to do his work...
he has given so many accounts but among them is one that really stands out to me....he was sent to azerbaijan just six months after the country had been freed from communistic rule and he was staying at a place with no running water so they would have to go to a well to get fresh water. he had just arrived with another pastor and they were filling up their buckets and the lord spoke to them and told them to speak in tongues to the azerbaijani man that was also filling up his bucket. well they thought that is really crazy but what the heck...so they proceeded to speak to the man and he began to speak back...this went on for about 15 minutes and then the man gestured for them to wait...he went and got his son who was fluent in english. our speaker and the other pastor were asked by the son how they had learned azerbaijani because he knew it was not spoken or taught at any school anywhere else in the world and the longest they could have been in the country was 6 months which is not long enough to become fluent....in response they replied that they had a really great teacher and then they asked the son what the father had told him that got him so excited...the son replied: you are hear to tell us about a living god and you want to serve in our country by bringing in agriculture support teams, medical teams, a university and you will have an office on our main street of town.....needless to say they were in shock and still are because all of those have become true in that city of azerbaijan...
we hear these accounts almost on a daily basis here and it truly is amazing when they come first hand from the person doing the work...they are life changing to so many! ...heather keep praying i think you were born to do missions....when i hear these people speak i always think of you....
{and i really hope you guys come!}

➺ look who's reading it now...

he was once making fun of me for picking it up....

i am still working on it...it's been a great read so far....many tips and ideas for anyone who's dream job includes traveling, helping people in the third world, living off your artwork...freelancing...or anything else...the ideas are endless!

back home...

well were back from our mini-outreach...we had so much fun staying with the marshallese but it's so nice to be home! i have many clips of the kids singing in marshallese and trying to breakdance....so cute! ...but they won't load:(

we had a great day at the beach and here are some pics of, in my opinion, the best beach on the big island...mile 88...it may not look like much but it's very rare to find sand here...well when you have to ride a moped:)




we have really enjoyed it here and we are going to miss kona so much...we are off to south africa in two weeks...we also just decided to spend a little time in london before hand...and i am very excited! i have never been before and there are so many sights i hope to catch while we are there....

the houses of parliament & big ben...


the largest uk museum, British Musuem,...can't wait!


st. paul's cathedral...


westminster abbey...


and last but not least...the infamous red phone booths...

anti 9-5!!!

okay...so since my break from work i have become accustom to the daily routine of no routine and i am loving every minute of it!! no more waking up and getting ready to rush to work....so i have been thinking...what can i do to stay home? i love teaching but the thought of going back to work makes me squirm! ...well I have come accross this

book

anti 9-5... so i am hoping it will hold the secret...check it out:)

✈ back from maui

we just got back from maui...but we are now spending the week with the marshallese. they are refugees from the marshall islands (the thermonuclear war testing site of the 50's by the US) which they are still experiencing birth defects from the radioactivity...but we have met so many wonderful people and have been touched by thier stories!

we will be back in kona shortly....and off to south africa in a couple of weeks....yeah!!
here are few pics from maui...we had such a great time....i didn't want to leave!!!

mac nut pancakes...yummmm


so many whales...i have not seen one in kona...